Late snowfall ties New Hampshire record set in 1967

MANCHESTER - A combination of a low pressure system off the coast of northern New England and a blast of cold Canadian air meant some Granite Staters woke to snow on the ground this Memorial Day weekend.

"It's really more like a winter system, with a low off the coast that pushed a lot of water into our area and very cold air aloft from Canada," said Margaret Curtis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service forecast office in Gray, Maine. "The combination was spots of snow,"Among snowfall reports were 4 inches of snow in Jefferson, 2 inches in Alexandria and an inch in Pinkham Notch, with measurable snow reported in locations as diverse as Laconia and Danville.

"It's certainly unusual for this time of year, if it was a month earlier we wouldn't blink an eye at all," Curtis said.

According to Weather Service records, the latest measurable snow on record for much of New Hampshire occurred 46 years ago today, on May 26, 1967.

The cold air that combined with the moisture from the still-wintry-cold Atlantic came from Canada's Hudson Bay, Curtis said.

In some parts of New Hampshire, the warmer air closer to the ground either melted the snowflakes on the way down or caused it to melt on contact with the ground.

"It all the way down as low as 500 feet in many places last night, but didn't stick," Curtis said.

A frost is still considered possible in the northern mountains, in Pittsfield, Colebrook and Berlin a frost is considered possible straight through May 30.

Interior sections of New Hampshire generally see the last frost of the season around May 10; in Concord and the foothills it may be May 20th.

After a wet and chilly start, forecasters say the weather will be improving for the remainder of the Memorial Day weekend. Temperature are predicted to hit 70 in the Manchester and Nashua areas before the Monday night homeward trek begins.

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